EPA proposing radiation exposure limits at Yucca Mountain for 1 million years
WASHINGTON (AP) - Conceding there's no way to know what life will be like in a million years, the Environmental Protection Agency nevertheless proposed limits Tuesday on how much radiation a person should be exposed to from a nuclear waste dump in that distant time.
The proposal would limit exposure near the proposed Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada to 15 millirems a year for 10,000 years into the future, but then increase the allowable level to 350 millirems for up to 1 million years.
That higher level is more than three times what is allowed from nuclear facilities today by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

MTBE Phase-Out will Stretch US Gasoline Supply-EIA
WASHINGTON - US refiners' attempts to phase out a water-fouling gasoline additive could mean "transition pressure" for gasoline prices next summer, the US Energy Information Administration said Tuesday.
Some refiners will phase out use of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, because of liability concerns, the EIA said in its monthly supply and demand report. The chemical is a suspected carcinogen, and has leaked into underground water supplies in many US states.
"As the market adjusts to the new provisions, there could be transition pressure on gasoline prices from the supply loss next summer, depending on the number of suppliers that eliminate their use of MTBE," the EIA said.

Canadian National Rail may Face Charges over Alberta Toxic Spill
VANCOUVER - Alberta is eyeing charges against Canadian National Railway for not telling it that a derailment last week might have contaminated a popular lake with a hazardous chemical, a provincial government official said on Tuesday.
Health officials ordered residents near Lake Wabamun, west of Edmonton, to avoid contact with the lake and water from nearby wells after discovering a ruptured tank car carried a potentially cancer-causing chemical used to treat utility poles.

Australia, China to Begin Formal Uranium Talks
CANBERRA - Australia plans to begin formal talks on a pact to allow China to buy uranium for its growing energy needs, while ensuring the mineral is not used to build weapons, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday.
The formal negotiations come after nine months of informal, exploratory talks on a possible safeguards agreement -- ensuring the safe use and disposal of uranium and its by-products -- to allow Australia to export uranium to China.

Russian Bird Flu Epidemic to Fade Soon - WHO
ST PETERSBURG - A bird flu epidemic in Russia is subsiding and should disappear by late August, a World Health Organisation official said on Tuesday.
But Russian health officials were less optimistic, suggesting birds migrating from the five Siberian regions where the deadly virus has been raging since mid-July could spread the disease as far afield as the United States.
"Things are quietening down. The (epidemic) will vanish in 10-15 days," Oleg Kiselyov, head of a research institute operating under the WHO's auspices, told reporters in Russia's second city of St Petersburg.

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